#12 Florida defeats #1 Texas in season opener

GAINESVILLE, FL- It was an incredible day in Gainesville for the University of Florida athletic department. Less than thirty minutes after Florida soccer defeated #1 Stanford, the Gators volleyball team took on #1 Texas in their first match at the new Exactech Arena. The Gators did not disappoint, defeating the Longhorns 3-1.

Florida won the first set in dominating fashion, 25-16. Florida had 13 kills compared to just 7 for Texas. The Gators also limited Texas to a .031 attack percentage.

In Florida’s 25-23 second set victory, the match was very even. Florida and Texas each had 13 kills. Texas committed seven errors while Florida committed six.

Set three was played with no halftime, and Texas raced to a 25-18 win. Texas had an attack percentage of .289 compared to Florida’s .105. The Gators made seven errors compared to three by the Longhorns.

Set four went the Gators way despite ten errors. Carli Snyder and Rhamat Alhassan seemed to come up with a big kill every time Florida needed it. The Gators finished set four 18 kills.

Snyder led the Gators balanced effort with 14 kills while Alhassan led the Gators with six blocks.

Florida outplayed the #1 ranked Longhorns for most of the match, and never appeared to give in to the idea that they weren’t supposed to win. The Gators played in front of an announced crowd of 7,523, the second largest crowd to see a volleyball match in UF history. The Gators will face Nebraska in the Vert Challenge on Saturday at 5:00 PM.